Entertainment

Making Millions via Twitter: @DellOutlet Surpasses $2 Million in Sales

@DellOutlet has been one of the biggest success stories amongst big companies using social media. For those unaware, @DellOutlet is a Twitter account owned by Dell that tweets out major discounts for Dell computers and products. All of the deals on @DellOutlet are Twitter-exclusive.

It has gained quite a following (620,000+ followers) and sold a lot of computers - at the end of last year, they surpassed $1 million in revenue, after about a year and a half's worth of tweeting.

Well throw those numbers out the window, because Twitter's phenomenal growth and Dell's social savvy have pushed sales from Dell Outlet to over $2 million, in 1/3 the time needed to pass the first milestone. And @DellOutlet is still on the rapid rise.

Let's take a closer look at the numbers. @DellOutlet began in June 2007 as a project initiated by Dell's Richard Binhammer. Soon though, it started to grow, creating buzz, retweets, and a steady rise in followers. Take a look at the TwitterCounter chart below:

But the bottom line addition that @DellOutlet has made is the important stat here. It took nearly two years to reach $2 million in Twitter-based revenue, and only six months to go from $1 million to $2 million.

Dell has since embraced social media on multiple accounts (check them all out here). And as one of the first companies to successfully utilize Twitter as a business platform, it has been a trendsetter for other companies on Twitter like @JetBlue and @Zappos.

We think it's important to note that while $2 million is a lot of money, it still pales in comparison to the $61 billion in revenue that the entire company generated in 2008. Regardless, @DellOutlet still is fundamental proof that Twitter can be a lucrative platform for companies big and small. It's a win-win for both the consumer (who get a great deal) and the company (who makes more money).

Mashable
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